What would you do?

I share a small office with a co-worker who tends to get sick a lot. Earlier this month, she had a stomach flu that lasted about 5 days with an upper respiratory infection going on at the same time. I was on Humira, Entocort and Immuran (Immuran was discontinued about 5 days ago) at the time and did my best to avoid being in the office the same time that she was there. I thought she and I were both "safe" for a while, since she had her share of bugs. Yesterday, she told me how "raw" her throat felt and today, she's back with a full fledged cold. She was sneezing and blowing her nose all day and was bundled in a sweater, like she had the chills. With every breath, I felt like I was breathing in her crud until after a few hours, I finally convinced her to pack up her stuff and work at home. I know she'll be right back tomorrow. I brought plenty of work home with me so I'm thinking of working at home tomorrow. I haven't been sick since I've been on Humira and I try to do my best to avoid exposure to colds and the flu. Am I being a paranoid germ-aphobe? Should I just sit in my germ infested office and listen to her sneeze, blow her nose and tell people how sick she is and risk getting her cold, and then fighting off an infection while I'm on immunosupressants, or stay home and deal with the consequences (i.e. people not understanding my "paranoia and thinking I'm a prima donna or wuss). I don't really care what people think in that regard, but I just wonder if I'm over-reacting. What would y'all do?

Your concerns are legitimate! Have you explained that wity your immunosupressants that you are at high risk? If you have the kind of job where you can work at home then go for it. Can you sit in a more remote part of the office? You can't lock yourself up and hide from all germs, but being careful is important. Remember to do lots of hand washing! Stay healthy!

I ditto sway. You gotta let people know first of all. But second, people can't stay home every time they have a cold or bug. In an ideal world we all would but with limited sick days sometimes you just gotta come in. I would never come in super sick but unfortunatly most people are contagious BEFORE they show signs they are super sick. Id see if there is any way you could secure your own office or a more remote space or work from home. But in all honesty you would be working from home all the time if you stayed home every time someone was sick. I would save it for the extreme cases when your office mate is clearly too ill to be at work.

Having spent the past 2 1/2 weeks dealing with a cold (that my daughter processed in 5 days), you are not at all off-base! When I go to the grocery store I even use their antibacterial wipes on the shopping cart! People don't really "get it," but if it's explained your boss should fully understand your concerns.

Thanks for the support everyone! I'm going on a ski trip in February. I may wear a mask on the plane, especially if people around me look sick. As far as my office situation, I stayed at home today and am getting a lot of work done. I can retrieve my e-mails, return calls and get my reports done just as well at home as at the office. I sent an e-mail to my boss first thing this morning. He was extremely supportive. He said to stay at home as long as I need to and they'll work things out at the office. I spoke with my office mate today and she said that if she feels as sick tomorrow as she does today, she'll stay home. I asked her why she went to work today. She couldn't really answer that. I would think the sickie, rather than the sickie's office-mate, should be the one to stay home. I just hope that I didn't catch her crud yesterday. I'm glad I stayed home today and feel very blessed that I have a flexible job and a supportive boss.

You need to protect yourself and be honest with those around you. Unfortunately I work in the Pediatric Urgent care area of a hospital (I worked here before I got diagnosed). I wound up with a 20 day cold shortly after starting my imuran and after that day, I mask 90% of my shift when I go to work and knock on wood, through whooping cough (pertussis, TB, flu, and colds, I've been able to keep them at bay). I know like you it seems like you're being a germ phobe but you know the misery of a 3 week cold is. Technically it should be your coworker wearing a mask or staying home but you can't control them--you can only control yourself. I even have nurses that do the same thing here too--presenteeism=irritating. I wash my hands often and try not to touch my face AND wipe down my desk and telephone with antibacterial wipes during each shift. I don't drink airborne but another type of packet thing similar to it called emergen-c when I feel droopy and kind of achy and it usually is gone by the next day. It's basically the same thing. vitamins and minerals but it tastes different. Find what works for you and continue to do it. =0)

I think that is cool that your boss is being helpful and that you are given the opportunity to work from home.

Take care

Azathioprines (Imuran). These drugs disrupt the synthesis of DNA and RNA as well as the process of cell division.  That's why some of us lose our hair because hair cells have a high cell turnover.

In normal people terms (like mine), I believe what they do is knock your troops down a notch so your body is not attacking itself as hard as if you weren't taking it thus reducing inflammation and scarring.  

I am told that you don't normally get "sicker" BUT you can get sicker quicker and it takes you a while longer to get over things than if you weren't taking them.  Also because our systems are weaker, we are more apt to catch more diseases, viruses, etc than a person with a normally functioning immune system.

prednisone is not an immunosuppressant.  It is in a class of medications called corticosteroids. It works to treat other conditions by reducing swelling etc and by changing the way the immune system works.  As with other drugs it has side effects and some pretty nasty ones at that. 

if you have any questions, you can either ask your doc or a pharmacist or even research it yourself by going to www.google.com.  you will find pages of articles etc that talk about it.  The sites I have found to be the most reputable usually have .gov at the end.  There is also the crohn's and colitis foundation of america http://www.ccfa.org/info/treatment/corticosteroids

hope this helps

The good news is - I didn't catch whatever it is my office-mate had this time. She's still not feeling well and went to the doctor today. She was diagnosed with a sinus infection. At this point, I don't think she's contagious. The bad news is - now my daughter has a cold. The fight against the cold germs continues!

Malakai - I thought prednisone was an immunosuppressant. It does mask the signs/symptoms of an infection - the WBC doesn't go as high as it normally would, a low grade fever could be something more serious...

I suggest keeping a can of Lysol at your fingertips (and anti-bacterial wipes) and disinfect your office space as much as you possibly can...plus wash your hands like a fiend...short of that there's little else you can do to keep your work environment sanitary.